China’s Xiao Guodong held his nerve in a deciding frame beating Englishman Gary Wilson 10-9 and defending his Wuhan Open crown to the delight of his home fans.
Xiao ended a 17 year wait for his first ranking crown 12 months ago here in Wuhan, when he lifted silverware for the first time. He becomes the fourth player to successfully defend his maiden ranking title, following John Parrott, Mark Allen and Wilson.
Today’s triumph for now two-time ranking event winner Xiao draws parallels with Wilson himself. The Tyneside cueman ended his 18-year quest for a title at the 2023 Scottish Open and defended the title a year later. He then went on to win the 2024 Welsh Open soon after.
Xiao pockets £140,000 for his victory, while Wilson is left to settle for the £63,000 runner-up prize. That means World number 14 Xiao will catapult himself to eighth in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings, while Wilson moves up to 16th from 18th. That ousts Shaun Murphy from the elite top 16 echelon.
Xiao’s week started off with a magic moment, as he crafted a 147 in his opening round win over Mink Nutcharut. He then went on to beat Ishpreet Singh Chadha, David Grace, Matthew Selt, Stan Moody and Mark Williams to make the title match.
The victory thrilled fans in a packed arena this evening. Xiao received strong support throughout the week, due to coming from the city of Chongqing, which neighbours Wuhan’s Hubei Province.
They came into the evening session with Xiao holding a slender 5-4 cushion. When play recommenced, parity was immediately restored, with three-time ranking event-winner Wilson making a sublime contribution of 118 to take the opener.
Xiao regained the lead, before further breaks of 73 and 102 from Wilson saw him go 7-6 up at the last mid-session interval.
Wilson forged further ahead at 8-6 upon the resumption, but the momentum continued to go back and forth. Xiao claimed three on the bounce, including runs of 103 and 90, to move a frame from the win at 9-8.
A steely contribution of 52 from Wilson in the 18th saw him take the tie all the way to a final frame.
Xiao had the first opportunity to get over the line, but could only amass 48 points. Wilson then had his chance, but an unexpected missed red to the top right proved to be fatal. Xiao got himself over the line and secured the glory.
“Winning a first ranking title is hard, winning a second is even harder. To be able to come back to this city and successfully defend the title really means a lot. I’ve been a professional for 17, now 18 years, so I’m not a young player anymore. As an experienced player, winning two ranking titles at this stage feels a bit late, but in another way the timing is just right. Over the years I’ve built up experience, and I think this breakthrough is the result of all the work and the lessons I’ve learned,” said 36-year-old Xiao
“I can remember all those years ago when I first moved to the UK to play, there was a lot of pressure for me. I moved away from my family and had no friends. I couldn’t speak English. Now I can just enjoy snooker. I can travel, eat different food and see different cities. I have to be happy to play snooker and I am glad to be doing my best.
“My biggest gain over the past year has been growth in my mentality. I’m calmer and more composed now. I feel much more settled and determined about the path I’m on. I just want to focus on every shot and enjoy what I do out there.
“I think it’s very important for Chinese players to achieve good results in home tournaments, because that helps the development of snooker in China and inspires more young people to take up the sport. Whenever I play in China, I’m extra motivated to do well because of the home crowd, the fans, and my family being there to support me. That really drives me forward. I also hope that more young Chinese players can go on to win ranking titles and show what they can do in front of the fans.”
Wilson said: “It’s not a great feeling. It is obviously a positive to get to a final again. It was a good week. But obviously when you get to a final you want to win and I’m very disappointed not to do it. I’ve got more ranking points and gone towards the top 16 again. It is about winning tournaments as well.
“Him having the majority of the support doesn’t bring pressure. If anything it should, if you have a competitive nature like I have, spur you on to try and upset that. It didn’t happen today. Now that it is finished and there is nothing more I can do about it, I just want to say well done to Xiao. I know how it feels to defend a title and he has done that in his home tournament.”
The post Xiao Defends Wuhan Crown appeared first on WPBSA.
Continue reading...
Xiao ended a 17 year wait for his first ranking crown 12 months ago here in Wuhan, when he lifted silverware for the first time. He becomes the fourth player to successfully defend his maiden ranking title, following John Parrott, Mark Allen and Wilson.
Today’s triumph for now two-time ranking event winner Xiao draws parallels with Wilson himself. The Tyneside cueman ended his 18-year quest for a title at the 2023 Scottish Open and defended the title a year later. He then went on to win the 2024 Welsh Open soon after.
Xiao pockets £140,000 for his victory, while Wilson is left to settle for the £63,000 runner-up prize. That means World number 14 Xiao will catapult himself to eighth in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings, while Wilson moves up to 16th from 18th. That ousts Shaun Murphy from the elite top 16 echelon.
Xiao’s week started off with a magic moment, as he crafted a 147 in his opening round win over Mink Nutcharut. He then went on to beat Ishpreet Singh Chadha, David Grace, Matthew Selt, Stan Moody and Mark Williams to make the title match.
The victory thrilled fans in a packed arena this evening. Xiao received strong support throughout the week, due to coming from the city of Chongqing, which neighbours Wuhan’s Hubei Province.
They came into the evening session with Xiao holding a slender 5-4 cushion. When play recommenced, parity was immediately restored, with three-time ranking event-winner Wilson making a sublime contribution of 118 to take the opener.
Xiao regained the lead, before further breaks of 73 and 102 from Wilson saw him go 7-6 up at the last mid-session interval.
Wilson forged further ahead at 8-6 upon the resumption, but the momentum continued to go back and forth. Xiao claimed three on the bounce, including runs of 103 and 90, to move a frame from the win at 9-8.
A steely contribution of 52 from Wilson in the 18th saw him take the tie all the way to a final frame.
Xiao had the first opportunity to get over the line, but could only amass 48 points. Wilson then had his chance, but an unexpected missed red to the top right proved to be fatal. Xiao got himself over the line and secured the glory.
“Winning a first ranking title is hard, winning a second is even harder. To be able to come back to this city and successfully defend the title really means a lot. I’ve been a professional for 17, now 18 years, so I’m not a young player anymore. As an experienced player, winning two ranking titles at this stage feels a bit late, but in another way the timing is just right. Over the years I’ve built up experience, and I think this breakthrough is the result of all the work and the lessons I’ve learned,” said 36-year-old Xiao
“I can remember all those years ago when I first moved to the UK to play, there was a lot of pressure for me. I moved away from my family and had no friends. I couldn’t speak English. Now I can just enjoy snooker. I can travel, eat different food and see different cities. I have to be happy to play snooker and I am glad to be doing my best.
“My biggest gain over the past year has been growth in my mentality. I’m calmer and more composed now. I feel much more settled and determined about the path I’m on. I just want to focus on every shot and enjoy what I do out there.
“I think it’s very important for Chinese players to achieve good results in home tournaments, because that helps the development of snooker in China and inspires more young people to take up the sport. Whenever I play in China, I’m extra motivated to do well because of the home crowd, the fans, and my family being there to support me. That really drives me forward. I also hope that more young Chinese players can go on to win ranking titles and show what they can do in front of the fans.”
Wilson said: “It’s not a great feeling. It is obviously a positive to get to a final again. It was a good week. But obviously when you get to a final you want to win and I’m very disappointed not to do it. I’ve got more ranking points and gone towards the top 16 again. It is about winning tournaments as well.
“Him having the majority of the support doesn’t bring pressure. If anything it should, if you have a competitive nature like I have, spur you on to try and upset that. It didn’t happen today. Now that it is finished and there is nothing more I can do about it, I just want to say well done to Xiao. I know how it feels to defend a title and he has done that in his home tournament.”
The post Xiao Defends Wuhan Crown appeared first on WPBSA.
Continue reading...
